Moinuddin Khaled

As one enters the room, the harmony between the art on the wall and the driftwood sculptures on the floor is apparent. Even though very different in medium, character, style and approach, they seem to be in sync. One reason behind this could be that these are the artworks of a mother and a son. Ferdousi Priyobhashini is the mother, Karu Titas the son. Just as nature dictates that a seed grow into a plant, Priyobhashini’s self taught inclination towards art is equally natural, in more ways than the obvious. Her son, Karu Titas however did graduate from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka.
Priyobhashini, the word itself is one that resonates with sweetness in terms of its meaning and how it refers to the one who is the herald of glad tidings. Like Shakuntala’s companion Priyamvada, it seems that Priyobhashini has dedicated her life to the worship of trees and nature. The fact that such close and deep observation of something can mould an artist is witnessed here. To her every little component of the tree is in itself an expression of art. It seems from recreating those natural gestures she herself has donned the very soul of a woman ‘of’ nature and hence is the very source of her tree-specific art form.
If for a second, one can imagine the expanse of a tree and how it grows; on one hand the roots spread far and deep into the very depths of earth while on the other hand the branches venture forth into the open skies in search of light and this dichotomy is the root of her artwork. Priyobhashini seems to do her best works from the wood of trees which have weathered time and seasons. Her journey even though slightly varied has converged onto this path, as to her, it seemed this art form is a testament to the times. The unconquerable spirit within the pieces of wood, twisted and warped, and its defiant will to seek out light is the premise for her pieces. Looking at her work, it seems as if she didn’t really want to build anything, rather somehow she simply seems to want to shed light on the spirit and soul of the trees. Many can perhaps see the prospect of creativity and originality when looking at a piece of wood but the actual strength lies in being able to transform those thoughts so effectively and to somehow become one with her created work and to give a new dimension to collected pieces of wood. And that is what Priyobhashini seems to master. Her artworks seem to express many different perspectives, that of one man, that of a collective, sometimes we see that there are new leaves next to dead branches; there seems to be elements of miniature structures which takes us back to our childhood, playing with dolls. Its seems she wants us to return to nature, to the beauty that lies within the pieces of wood, lifeless or not.
Karu Titas seems to be playing with light and shadow through his impressionistic strokes. His artwork takes us back into time and reminds us how we are connected to nature and how the past resides within us. There was a time till when his paintings went back to a certain past through images and forms of ancient mansions, their walls and windows but as he evolved as a painter he went back further. He seemed to immerse in his colours and almost a play of colours, crossing the barriers of form. Each painting seems to be very personal, almost as if each were a journal entry. It is not easy to bring a level of control within the use of colours and even more so into the use of colours to dictate expressions of light and shade and that is what Titas seems to have done. His paintings seem to tell such intricate stories of light and colour that it can be interpreted that there is a method to ‘reading’ his paintings which one needs to know how to do. Looking at his artworks it seems to say that abstraction and abstract paintings play a major role in setting the rhythm of this life and this the way to experience this material world.